Facebook Groups are Dead, and Discord is Too Complicated; Check Out the Best Online Community Platforms of 2022
It is not enough to simply produce and distribute content to be a successful edupreneur (Educator and Entrepreneur), content creator, or expertise-based firm. Building an online community around your business is one of the best ways to increase engagement, improve your reputation, and expand your audience.
Sometimes, the finest community platforms are not standard websites, courses, or even membership sites. Some have great tools for managing memberships, but their community features are frequently somewhat restricted. As a result, in most circumstances, you will need to explore elsewhere for the other community options.
Fortunately, there are many online community platforms available. In addition to your existing website or online course business, they provide powerful tools for creating various communities.
In this article, you will learn:
- Are Facebook groups dead?
- Why is Discord too complicated?
- 5 things to consider when choosing the best online community platform
- Best online community platforms of 2022
Are Facebook groups dead?
Facebook is still a tremendously robust platform, but only if you have original and trendy video content, a lot of time to network, or the money to pay for sponsored advertising.
The following are three reasons you should focus on exploring other platforms rather than Facebook if you want to generate organic traffic to your site and increase your business revenue.
Facebook's organic reach and engagement have hit an all-time low
2016 was the beginning of it, and there had been concerns before that, but 2017 was the year Facebook reached its apex, and organic reach and engagement immediately fell.
Facebook's organic reach and engagement have hit an all-time low this year. So, even if you have a lot of Facebook Likes or Followers, if you do not create and share your content according to Facebook's algorithm and specifications, no one will see it.
What is it that they seek? Video.
Most business owners are strapped for time. Then there is the fact that, like many other content creators, they are wary of wasting their precious time on something that will not pay off.
Facebook has a short shelf life compared to SEO
As search engines index your content, the effectiveness of your SEO efforts will grow. Since anything you share now could disappear from your audience's newsfeed tomorrow, social media contents tend to degrade over time.
With this, the content developed for SEO can be a long-term investment because more people will see it over time. In contrast, on Facebook, fewer people will see the content you make because of its short shelf life.
Facebook has a low conversion rate
To be in the target audience does not mean you have to be interested in what is being advertised.
This is primarily because many people are unable to target their advertisements adequately. Even though you may be interested in something in the future, you are more likely to view a lot of unrelated content than if you are actually interested.
They may click on an ad out of curiosity, but if they are actively seeking anything, it is because they have a pressing need or want for the item. Nothing in an ad guarantees that a person's interest in your offering will transfer into a desire to purchase it.
As a result, organic traffic has more excellent conversion rates than Facebook paid ads.
Plus, converting visitors who have found you by searching for you and your services is much easier in terms of conversion rates.
Why is Discord too complicated?
Aside from the disadvantages of Discord, such as call quality and privacy issues, many users also complain about its complexity.
One of the most important considerations when building an online community is having a user-friendly platform. Discord primarily caters to gamers, which we can assume are tech-savvies. With all the servers and technicalities, other users might be unable to navigate the tools easily.
The interface is highly bright and, at a glance, appears beautiful however it is not very useful.
5 Things to Consider when Choosing the Best Online Community Platform
Before you finally choose the right platform for your online community, here are a few things you must consider:
All-in-one Platform
Your clients will appreciate the convenience of not having to sign in to ten separate platforms to view your content. Your community platform should enable you to sell digital products and services in one location.
Promotes Interaction
Your platform should make it easy for members to communicate with you and other community members.
A whopping 64% of consumers want businesses to engage with them, and your online community might be the perfect setting for that.
Cutting-edge Moderation Tools
Everyone should be able to feel safe and comfortable in an online community. Using moderation tools, this can be done. Blocking and removing members and content that breaches your rules helps keep your community secure.
Variety of Tiers
Your platform should be able to support both paid and free memberships. You will not have to move to a new location as your business grows.
User-friendly Platform
How user-friendly is the platform? You need a platform that is simple to use so you can spend more time connecting with people and participating in the community.
Best Online Community Platforms of 2022
Here is the list of some of the top online community platforms out there:
#1: Backspace
Backspace is an online community platform that helps content creators and businesses interact with and sell their products to customers. Content creators are no longer limited to paid views and brand collaboration. They can now profit from their community.
Backspace allows you to establish both free and paid communities in one place. Having everything under one roof saves your clients from logging in to multiple platforms. With a simple click, your audience has access to everything they require.
You can use Backspace to upload information, share updates, and connect with others by commenting and reacting to their posts. This will result in more interactions with your audience, making connecting with them and one another simpler.
As your online community grows, you will be able to create as many plans and subscription tiers as you like. You can also develop content and courses only available to paying subscribers. Our platform supports both paid and free membership options. You will not have to relocate as your company and community expand.
Backspace is, of course, a fantastic platform for solopreneurs and business owners. Using our platform, you can create a consumer community around your products and services. Furthermore, you may use your online community to provide customer support and boost your business' awareness.
#2 Patreon
A Patreon account makes it easier for fans to contribute monetarily to your work. Membership plans for artists, musicians, and other creatives can be set up for their fans to join. Members have access to special content in return for their support.
As a membership community platform, Patreon allows users to interact by commenting on topics and receiving email notifications.
Because Patreon does not allow free tiers, you can only build a paid online community. Patreon is not the best place to develop a free community to increase customer interaction or supplement your online course.
Patreon takes a cut of any money you make on the platform as their fee. A lot of money could be lost if your community expands significantly.
#3 Discourse
It is possible to create online communities for your team, organization, or project with Discourse. It is a breeze to cooperate with people and express your thoughts.
Discourse provides valuable metrics for community managers who want to learn more about how their users interact with the platform. This data has the potential to enhance the user experience and help the community achieve its objectives.
In addition, Discourse is open-source community management and moderating software platform. As a result, it is an excellent option for companies that wish to maintain control over their online communities.
Moreover, Discourse provides members with a super-simple means of participating in online conversations. The user interface is simple and intuitive to navigate. This makes it an excellent choice for online communities that seek a lot of engagement among its members.
#4: Mighty Networks
People from all over the world can connect and develop relationships based on their shared passions using Mighty Networks. Making a network centered around a particular topic, interest, or passion is a breeze with Mighty Networks.
With this online community platform, you can run your online courses, material, videos, events, memberships, and digital subscriptions in one location.
It is possible to use Mighty Networks on the web, iOS, and Android devices. There are various ways to get this information, depending on the operating system of your mobile device.
#5: Circle
Because of its focus on community features, Circle is ideal for authors who want to use the most minimal amount of software.
What are Circle's advantages? Students can easily organize themselves into groups using Circle's open and private spaces features. Build a member directory, multiple subscription levels, and private and group message rooms and event spaces.
Professional plan members can broadcast live video, and Circle has thousands of integrations, so you can use it with other apps you already have.
You will have to use third-party integrations to sell things that are not already available through Circle.
Despite Circle's functional community management capabilities, content managers and creators must pay transaction fees in addition to a monthly subscription charge. Large video and image files may not be able to be shared due to storage capacity restrictions.
#6: BuddyBoss
An online community can be built with BuddyBoss, a WordPress plugin.
What are BuddyBoss's key features? Create an activity feed, a member directory, and separate groups and forums with BuddyBoss.
Additional integrations allow creators to include a blog, charge for community access, and sell digital products. You may design a whole WordPress website for your group with BuddyBoss.
While you will have much control, doing everything from scratch might get complicated. You may have to invest in extra commercial tools to achieve all the desired features, which may add time and complexity to your project.
Hosting and domain name costs will also be necessary to keep your community active. This option best suits those confident in their ability to construct a WordPress system from scratch.
What’s a Rich Text element?
The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.
Static and dynamic content editing
A rich text element can be used with static or dynamic content. For static content, just drop it into any page and begin editing. For dynamic content, add a rich text field to any collection and then connect a rich text element to that field in the settings panel. Voila!
How to customize formatting for each rich text
Headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, figures, images, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.
